Imo he was alright, why you think he was awful?
Isco
- Thread starter Barcaman
- Start date
Imo he was alright, why you think he was awful?
BarcaOG
Banned
To be fair I only half-watched the match. But he was dispossessed constantly and produced little in the final third--Ronaldo was actually visibly annoyed after Isco had lost the ball for something like the fourth time near Malmo's box.
Saw a lot of bad passes as well.
Beast
The Observer
He's been like that for a long time... around 8 month now
Can't decide if he wants to be an Iniesta or Zidane or James
the ball get lost till he makes the calculation in his mind.. maybe a change of scenery will revive him
Deco 20
Scandinavian 101
Ronaldo wouldn't have scored without Isco
J
Jamie Cal
Guest
Can see him leaving in the summer. Not definite, but there's definitely a chance.
Ubermensch
New member
The match against Sevilla again clearly showed that James is head and shoulders above Isco. 30 minutes of a barely fit James created much more than an hour of Isco.
Got to say he will probably never reach the height of Iniesta or similar level that some people craved him to do. I was among those who were so impressed what he had done in Malaga. When he moved to Real, I also lamented that a natural Barca-fit player went to a wrong team. But 2 seasons on, I have been proven wrong.
True that his skills on the ball are phenomenal. Being the main man in Pellegrini's Malaga, he was given freedom to do what he wanted which made him looked like the next big thing. But the harsh reality is his moving to Real completely exposed him.
The biggest flaw is his passing. In a system of passing to Ronaldo quickly and accurately, most of the time he completely fails to do so. I have lost count of the following scenario. Space is opened up. Ball under his feet. Instead playing a quick ball to their front men, he tries to dribble and becomes a ball hogger, dallies the ball for too long and slow decision making as if waiting opponents get back to defend and then suddenly he can't find space up front so he passes sideways or backward. A chance missed and followed by Ronaldo or Bale showing their frustration.
At first, I thought this might just be a problem of chemistry or time of adaptation. But more I saw him more I realized that he is not good at passing at all. Because in the limited occasions that I saw him actually tries to pass the ball first time or quicker, he usually loses the ball. As passing is the most important ability an attacking midfielder needs to possess, that's a huge flaw in his game.
What makes thing worse is his average passing completely brings down other aspects of his game. That is particularly evident when comes a choice to shoot or pass. And most of time, as he is not good at passing and afraid of losing the pass, he just shoots even at a worse position. And the ball usually not goes in and then Ronaldo gives him the evil eye again. Hence someone thinks he is quite selfish and makes poor decision but the truth is his average, if not poor, passing is the culprit.
Someone may still argue that it's Real's counter attack system not suit him at all. But that's simply invalid. Just ask yourself. If a player is given space to pass the ball but fail to do so, would he be able to thrive on a system where much tighter space is allowed to pass the ball? Definitely not. If he comes to us, his weakness will only be further exposed.
Being one had high hope on him, I must say I am very disappointed to find out the truth he is not at all a player of Barca type. And given his age, it's unlikely he will have any significant improvement on his passing game. But on the other hand, I am slightly consoled that I am proven wrong for I've never heard, as far as I know, we have showed any interest in him. Perhaps our scouting team have spotted this long time ago. Hats off to them.
Got to say he will probably never reach the height of Iniesta or similar level that some people craved him to do. I was among those who were so impressed what he had done in Malaga. When he moved to Real, I also lamented that a natural Barca-fit player went to a wrong team. But 2 seasons on, I have been proven wrong.
True that his skills on the ball are phenomenal. Being the main man in Pellegrini's Malaga, he was given freedom to do what he wanted which made him looked like the next big thing. But the harsh reality is his moving to Real completely exposed him.
The biggest flaw is his passing. In a system of passing to Ronaldo quickly and accurately, most of the time he completely fails to do so. I have lost count of the following scenario. Space is opened up. Ball under his feet. Instead playing a quick ball to their front men, he tries to dribble and becomes a ball hogger, dallies the ball for too long and slow decision making as if waiting opponents get back to defend and then suddenly he can't find space up front so he passes sideways or backward. A chance missed and followed by Ronaldo or Bale showing their frustration.
At first, I thought this might just be a problem of chemistry or time of adaptation. But more I saw him more I realized that he is not good at passing at all. Because in the limited occasions that I saw him actually tries to pass the ball first time or quicker, he usually loses the ball. As passing is the most important ability an attacking midfielder needs to possess, that's a huge flaw in his game.
What makes thing worse is his average passing completely brings down other aspects of his game. That is particularly evident when comes a choice to shoot or pass. And most of time, as he is not good at passing and afraid of losing the pass, he just shoots even at a worse position. And the ball usually not goes in and then Ronaldo gives him the evil eye again. Hence someone thinks he is quite selfish and makes poor decision but the truth is his average, if not poor, passing is the culprit.
Someone may still argue that it's Real's counter attack system not suit him at all. But that's simply invalid. Just ask yourself. If a player is given space to pass the ball but fail to do so, would he be able to thrive on a system where much tighter space is allowed to pass the ball? Definitely not. If he comes to us, his weakness will only be further exposed.
Being one had high hope on him, I must say I am very disappointed to find out the truth he is not at all a player of Barca type. And given his age, it's unlikely he will have any significant improvement on his passing game. But on the other hand, I am slightly consoled that I am proven wrong for I've never heard, as far as I know, we have showed any interest in him. Perhaps our scouting team have spotted this long time ago. Hats off to them.
Last edited:
Beast
The Observer
You analyzed 90% of Isco in one great post ... probably the only thing i will pick here that i tend to disagree with you in is his passing skills
what make us Madridistas frustrated that he does posses the passing skills to make him as dangerous as Iniesta but instead he wants the limelight for himself
he wants to dribble and be the one to score.. while Iniesta would blindly and automatically picks what's best for the team... he hogs the ball and wants to dribble and score..you can also predict how he wants to score... cut inside from the left side.. send the curved ball in the right side of the goal... if i'm a goalie and i see Isco about to shoot i will throw myself in this direction and 9 times out of 10 i will stop it
He is very insecure very insecure person... last year when James came back he suddenly dropped in form after a stellar period where he was head & shoulders the most dangerous player... yet stats say Isco played a lot more minutes than any other player in RM except for the goalie
he feels a goal will make him better than James while the situation is very easy & very simple.. not all players are alike.. not all players have the same set of skills... James is natural goal scorer .. he can come from 4 month layoff or more and simple find the goal .. and many times with one hell of a goal.. that's a god given skill (look at Seville and before it when he came back later after copa america during pre-season and without game time he scored a great free kick and had another one off the post ... Isco should see that being a master passer never hindered Iniesta or Xavi .. they made their teams win trophies and made them irreplaceable ... the choice is easy for Isco..he has the skill but as long as he continue in him mind to compete with James he will lose everything including his place in the RM team
Vlom
Previously known as Mehssi
Not doubtful, Rested.
Ubermensch
New member
I have to clarify while I criticize Isco's passing skills average, my benchmark is the like of Iniesta, Silva or Ozil. If you insist he does possess the passing skills as good as them, I am afraid his performance in the past two seasons cannot justify your claim.
And then you said he usually tries to dribble and shoot rather than pass the ball is because he is too eager to score. I got to agree to some extent as it's hard to discern which is the cause and which is the effect. Too eager to score so don't like to pass or Not good at passing so try to dribble and shoot? I'd say both play into the situation.
Anyway, my point is if Isco cannot improve his game, he is done in the very elite level of football. Right now, I am sure any reasonable Madrid fan would regret they let Ozil go and Isco in.
Beast
The Observer
No doubt we are not regretting letting Ozil ago by any means, he can't preform more than 60 minutes in any given game and very inconsistent
selling Ozil was a great piece of business and on top we finally got the Decima without relying on him when he tends to fade away in many (not all ) big games especially those high octane game
selling Ozil was a great piece of business and on top we finally got the Decima without relying on him when he tends to fade away in many (not all ) big games especially those high octane game
Alik
Moderator
Sorry, cannot agree with you when you say that a 23 year old player cannot improve.
khaled_a_d
Senior Member
I like the points you are making but can't agree with those points
1-many footballers don't reach their peak until 26 ,Isco is 23 .time is on his side
2-Ozil? no club should ever regret letting Ozil go unless you just think reaching CL is an achievement
Home of Barca Fans
